Process for treatment of lubricants



June 8, 1937.

W. G. BLACK PROCESS FOR TREATMENT OF LUBRICANTS Filed June 22, 1935 lER WHRRzF/V 6. Bum/r- Patented June 8, 1937' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v 2,083,139 PROCESS FOR TREATMENT OF LUBRICANTS wmn G. Black, Cleveland, Ohio Application June 22, 1935, Serial No. 28,012

14 Claim.

An object of my invention is to provide amineral oil lubricant improved as to the property 15 or quality of oiliness to eliminate friction and the wear of parts and loss of power in parts subject to the action of friction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a lubricant of mineral oil, the viscosity of which is not reduced, but remains substantially uniform throughout the period of service, whereby the life of the lubricant is greatly increased.

Another object of my invention is to provide a method of treating a mineral oil whereby the viscosity of the oil is fixed and retained after prolonged and extensive use as a lubricant.

Another object of my invention is to provide a mineral oil product for mixing with mineraloils, whereby theoilinss and the viscosity maintaining properties of the latter are improved.

A further object of my invention is to provide a lubricant with improved properties as'stated by chemical action upon mineral oil through the 'action of distillation.

vide catalysts or substances for facilitating 01 accelerating the chemical action upon the mineral oil to improve its value as a lubricant.

Another object of myinvention is to provide a mineral oil product suitable for compounding into plastic lubricants having improved oiliness and stability.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mineral oil product which may be added to lubricating materials to accomplish the objects already mentioned.

Further objects and aims of my invention will appear in the iollowing description.

It is well known that what may be termed liquid film or viscous lubrication depends almost if not entirely upon the viscosity of the oil, and that the efliciency of mineral oil lubricants depends upon the selection of oils having a viscosity suitable for the maintenance of a film under the 55 conditions of use such as load, temperature, etc.

Still another object of my invention is to pro- When the supply of oil'becomes insuflicient, or the conditions of load, speed, etc., become unfavorable to the existence or formation of the oil film, lubrication depends upon some other property of the 011 than viscosity which may be termed oiliness. Hence it has been proposed to improve the properties of mineral oils by admixing with them products of vegetable and animal origin. 'I'hese mixtures have proved unsuitable in many respects, however, as for instance, where animal or vegetable fats or oils are used,

- decomposition results under the conditions of use or even upon exposure to air with the production of acids which attack and destroy the metal bearing surfaces. In other cases, the vegetable or animal substances become gummy, lose their lubricating qualities and increase the power losses due to increased friction. It has been proposed also to mix, graphite in colloidal form or suspension with mineral oils. This mixture is not suitable for all applications of lubrication and is susceptible to precipitation also of the graphite vlscosities, sothat the change in viscosity, that would otherwise occur by dilution or breakdown of the oil, is automatically compensated for. In many cases this uniformity of viscosity may resuit in improper lubrication.

According to my invention, an improved mineral oil lubricant, avoiding many if not all of the objections stated, results when the mineral oil is caused to undergo a chemical reaction with or in the. presence of the substances which are introduced into it for the purpose of improving its properties as a lubricant. While the precise mechanism of the chemical reaction is not known, it is believed that it involves the unsaturated constituents of the mineral oil by polymerization or combination, or both, so that the finalproduct partakes of the very nature of the mineral oil itself andis inseparable from it under the conditions" of use of the lubricant. Thus my invention is distinguished from other processes in which improved properties are obtained merely such as rubber latex, produce particularly advantageous results as will be describedin detail later, although I desire not to be limited thereby in view of the fact that it has been possible to synthetize substances with properties similar to those naturally occurring, as for instance synthetic rubher.

To facilitate the chemical reaction produced in the mineral oil content of the above mentioned substances, resort may be. had to organic amino compounds such as di-methylaniline.

In the carrying out of my invention, I choose to avail myself of a special reaction and distilling apparatus as a matter of convenience, although my process may not be limited to the same. In fact, it may be carried out in any suitable reaction vessel of iron, steel, or the like, of the general type hereinafter set forth.

The special reaction and distilling vessel which I have chosen to describe is designed with a view primarily to a special proportioning of the various parts thereof including the main still, a vaporizing tower associated with said still, and communication between which and the still is controlled by specially constructed baflling means,

together with a specially proportioned vapor line coil of the condenser box, all designed with a view conducive to obtaining a complete and efiicient vapor phase of operation during distillation.

The apparatus of the invention, illustrated for thepurposes of advising those versed in the art to which the invention relates of my preferred method of carrying out the treatment process hereinafter more fully described, is shown in the figure of the accompanying drawing, which is. a somewhat diagrammatic sectional view of the still, vapor chamber, vapor line and condenser means employed.

In order to give an understanding of the invention and one preferred mode of accomplishing the objectives desired to be attained, I shall firstrefer to the apparatus shown in the accompanying drawing, previously mentioned. In this drawing, the still is designated A and is equipped with any suitable heating appliances such as the fuel inlet pipe I, having the burner jets 2 directed toward the bottom of the still for the application of proper heat thereto.

At the upper portion of the still, the latter is equipped with a vapor tower 3 from which leads upwardly the vertical portion 4 of a vapor line, which includes the L joint or coupling 5,. and the pipe or line, 6, that connects said vertical portion 4 with the condenser .13. Theline or pipe 6 is directly joined with a coupling I, which in turn couples the condenser coil 8 of said condenser B. The draw-off for the condenser B is shownat9.

Now it is important to the invention that the parts of the distilling apparatus used for my treatment method shall be not only made of iron or steel or a similar metal, but it is highly desirable that the different parts of the apparatus shall be proportioned properly in relation to eachother. The still A lllustrated is of approximately ten gallon capacity, and will be designed so that it is about twenty-five inches long, and about thirteen inches in diameter. The tower}, projecting upwardly, is about seven-and-a-half inches in .diameter, and about eight-and-a-half inches high. The vertical portion of the vapor line, designated 4, is about five inches high, and the main portion of thevapor line 6 extends downwardly at an approximate angle of forty-five degrees to its point of connection with the condenser coil 1 The cou pling is a reducing L-coupling, so as to join the approximately two-inch diameter pipeor member 4 with the pipe 6, which will be about one-and-one-fourth inches in diameter and the coupling 1 is also a reducing coupling to join the pipe 6 to the condenser coil 8 which is of about one inch diameter. I

The still'A is designed to contain the treatment compound of my invention, which comprises certain chemical substances mixed with six gallons of. untreated lubricating oil and placed in the still A for treatment purposes, as hereinafter set forth. The still A will be equipped with a suitable thermometer :for controlling the temperature thereof in the distilling operation, and the drawoff pipe I0 is provided near the bottom of the still, together with an inlet at its cover provided at the top portion of the still and designated II.

I shall now proceed to describe the mixture which I employ for the purposes of my invention. I first provide a solution comprising one gallon of benzol and four ounces of rubber (commercial rubber crepe). The benzol is used as a solvent for the rubber. I next provide a mixture of one ounce of nitro-benzol and one ounce of naphthalene crystals which are fully dissolved in the nitro-benzol. Two ounces of di-methylaniline are-now mixed with the rubber benzol solution,

previously referred to, and after the mixing is above given are added to six gallons of ordinary commercial oil. Said proportions may slightly be modified, of course. 'The proportionlng, therefore, as supplied herein is given as one ex ample suitable for the purposes of the invention, and the same may be said in respect to the construction of the still, the proportions of which, as given, are intended for the treatment of the quantity of compound which has been just referred to above.

Now an importantfeature of the construction of my still lies in the provision, between the lower end of the tower 3 and the top of the still, of a baiile member 12 comprising a plate containing many fine perforations. v

In the practice of my process, -I place my properly proportioned quantity of the admixture or compound, previously described, and comprising a volume of about seven gallons, eight ounces, in the stlllA. The above product when thoroughly mixed has the characteristic of long stringiness in appearance.

The somewhat over seven gallons of liquid product or admixture, when placed in the still, are subjected to a slow fire and heated until a maximum of 450 F. is reached in the still effective distillation resulting respecting the more volatile products in the mixture or compound. At this maximum temperature, and considerably below the same, volatile substances are recovered in the condenser throughthe distillation process, and reacting of. the various constituents is obtained;

I am not certain as to what chemical processes or reactions take place in the still, but I believe that there is a chemical reaction between the oil and certain'constituents of the compound above described, which produces the advantages hereinafter claimed.

After the compound is treated in the manner above described, the residuum product, or oil compound, is suitable to be mixed with ordinary 1O untreated lubricating oil in the proportion of one gallon or more of said product to fifty-five gallons of an untreated oil. Such a mixture of my processed oil compound or product, and the untreated oil provides a new improved oilor lubricant of remarkable advantages, such as previously outlined herein.

Exhaustive tests ofoil mixed in the proportion of one gallon of my treated compound or product with fifty-five gallons of ordinary untreated oil indicate that a marked increase in the'oiliness, and therefore, life of the lubricant is obtained. This increase ranged up to thirtyfive percent respecting naphthalenic base oils and fifty percent respecting parafline base oils.

Likewise, the treatment oil or compound enables me to substantially fix the viscosity of the ordinary lubricant to which it is added, so that after prolonged and continuous use of the latter, the viscosity remains unchanged. Respecting viscosity, to exemplify one test, I have taken a high grade Pennsylvania oil, 8. A. E. 70 oil,

with a viscosity of 125 at 210 F., used it in an aeroplane engine for thirty hours, and at the end of the thirty hours, the viscosity was reduced as much as fifteen points, or some thirty percent.

Then, by taking the same oil, and mixing it with oil subjected to my treatment process, as herein described, and putting the resulting lubricant to the same identical test in the aeroplane engine for thirty hours, I have found that the viscosity is the same as when the oil was originally placed in the engine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:-

1. The process of increasing the lubricating power of lubricating oils which consists in adding to a first bodyof oil a less quantity of oil which has been subjected to chemical action in 5 and lubricating oil, and subjecting the mixture to distillation of the relatively volatile products at a temperature approximating 450 F., and then admixing the oil compound residue remaining in the still with ordinary commercial lubricating oil.

4. The process of preparing an improved lubricant, which includes mixing a solution of rubber with nitro-benzol, naphthalene, di-methylaniline, and lubricating oil, and subjecting the mixture to distillation of the relatively volatilev products 5 at a temperature approximating 450 F., and then the presence of naphthalene, nitro-benzol. rub-,

admixing the oil containing residue remaining in the still with ordinary commercial lubricating oil, in the approximate proportions of one gallon or more of the residuum oil to fifty-five gallons of the commercial oil.

5. The process of producing an oil compound for admixture with ordinary commercial oil for fixing the viscosity of the latter and increasing I the oiliness characteristic thereof, which comprises the mixing of rubber in solution, nitrobenzol and naphthalene crystals in solution, and di-methylaniline; with an amount of ordinary commercial oil of approximately six times the volume of said first mixture, and subjecting said admixture to partial distillation.

6. The process of producing an oil compound for admixture with ordinary commercial lubricating oil for fixing the viscosity of the'latter' and increasing the oiliness characteristic thereof, which comprises the admixture of a rubber solution, a solution of naphthalene crystals in nitrobenzol, and di-methyianiline, with 'an amount of ordinary commercial oil of approximately six times the volume of said mixture, and subjecting said admixture to distillation in an iron stiiL' 7. The process of improving the lubricating qualities of lubricants, which comprises adding to a solution of rubber a relatively small quantity of di-methylaniline, mixing therewith a nitrobenz ol solution of naphthalene, adding to said substances a quantity of commercial lubricating oil, and subjecting said complete mixture to partial distillation to cause chemical reaction between the oil and the associated substances of the mixture.

8. A product for improving the lubricating qualities of lubricants, comprising a solution of one gallon of solvent and four ounces ,of rubber, mixed with two ounces of di-methylaniline, added to a solution of one ounce of nitro-benzol and one ounce of naphthalene, and six gallons of lubricating oil admixed with the foregoingsolutio'ns and chemically combined therewith during par tial distillation of the mixture. H

9. The method of processing lubricating oils for increasing the oiliness thereof, which comprises adding njaphthalene, nitrobenzol, rubber, and dimethylaniline to a body of lubricating oil, reacting the mixture under the influence of relatively high temperature to remove volatile constituents, the said temperature being less than that at which the said oil distills, and incorporat-' ing small but eifecti've amounts of the residual reaction product of the said reaction to a relatively large of untreated lubricating oil to increase the oiliness thereof.

10, The method of processing lubricating oils, which comprises adding naphthalene, nitrobenzol, rubber, and dimethylaniline to a oi lubricating oil, and reacting the mixture under the influence of relatively high temperature to remove volatile constituents while producing a re-' sidual reaction Product which is fluid at ordinary temperatures, the temperature of reaction being less than that at which the said oil distills', the said reaction product being adapted to be incorporated in a body of untreated lubricating oil to increase the" oiliness of the latter.

11. The processof increasing the oiliness of lubricating oils, which comprises mixing therewith a minor proportion of the product resulting from chemical action of a mixture of naphthalene, nitrobenzol', rubber, dimethylanilineand a lubricating oil.

12. The process of treating lubricating oils to increase the oilin,ess thereof, which includes adding thereto a lesser quantity of an oil which has been subjected to chemical action under the influence of heat causing distillation of volatile constituents, the said action taking place in the presence of nitrobenzol, naphthalene, dimethylaniline, and rubber.

13. An improved lubricant consisting of an untreated lubricant to which has been added the reaction product resulting from the chemical action taking place in a mixture comprising a mixing the residue with an untreated lubricant to 10 improve the lubricating qualities of the latter. WARREN G. BLACK. 

